Effect of yogic practices and and physical fitness training on performance of college football players

Abstract

Background: The fitness level increases, if an individual take part regularly in the newlinephysical fitness activities. Poor physical fitness and inactive living habits will lead to newlinea negative impact of both health and daily living. The regular practice of yoga shall newlineimprove one s health and also keep fit to participate in high level of competitions. The newlinemeasurement of skillfulness is hardly ever built-in when the fitness of players is newlinemonitored. There are very few studies on skill performance within the research newlineliterature, which seems remarkable when it is readily acknowledged that the newlinesuccessful execution of skill is the most important aspect of football play. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the outcome of yogic practices and physical newlinefitness training on health related physical fitness components and skills of football newlineplayers. Methods: Eighty two male college football players divided randomly in to treatment newline(n=41) and control group (n=41) with the age range from 18-24 years. Each player newlineunderwent the following series of physical fitness as well as football skill tests: newlineMuscular Strength, Muscular Endurance, Cardiovascular Endurance, Body Mass newlineIndex and Flexibility followed by skill test Dribbling, Lofted pass, Shooting and newlinejuggling before and after intervention. The treatment group underwent 4 months yoga newlineand physical fitness training program in a schedule of 60 min. per day, six days per newlineweek (yoga and physical fitness training is given in alternate day) where as the control newlinegroup underwent day to day activities. Results: Physical Fitness Test: The results shows significant pre-post improvements newlinewere seen in the treatment group in the variables of fitness components Muscular newlineStrength (MS) (plt 0.001), Sit up (plt 0.001), Physical Efficiency Index (PEI) (plt0.001), Body Mass Index (BMI) (p= 0.041), Sit and Reach (SR) (plt 0.001). The newlineControl group showed within group improvement only in Sit and Reach (p=0.042) newlinesignificant. Conclusion: The overall results suggested that the four months yoga program along newlinewith p